Why funeral flowers should be cut flowers

The plant-owner says, in a tired voice: “That was from my wife’s funeral but I’ve managed to keep it alive.”

“Oh my!” I know that the wife died more than four years ago. We both stare at the plant, which is enormous. Which requires watering. Which is still alive.

“It’s been an unexpected burden,” he says, in a surprising moment of honesty.

Friends, this is why I believe in clearing the clutter. I’m sure the person who gave that plant had the best of intentions! But sometimes even our best intentions create clutter, for ourselves, or for other people. Sometimes our best intentions weigh us down, because we just didn’t know then what we know now. Life change. Sometimes we just have to remove the clutter of those well-meaning intentions. How else can we make room for the lives we’re actually living, now? Better for us to thrive, than our plants.

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